2024: The year the Hispanic vote changed everything

The Hispanic vote made history in this 2024 presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump set a record by receiving 46% of the Hispanic vote, the highest for a Republican presidential candidate in exit polls since the 1970s.

It surpasses even the 44% obtained by Republican George W. Bush in 2004. Ronald Reagan, for example, considered one of the best conservative presidents in history, earned just 37% of this group's vote in 1980 and at 34% in 1984.

There is no doubt that the Hispanic vote contributed to the resounding victory of the Republican candidate. But, in addition, it also changed the traditional voting behavior of this group in presidential elections. Latino voters showed that they definitively broke the chains that traditionally held their vote captive to the Democratic Party.

In emblematic states such as Texas, Trump reached a historic milestone by obtaining 55% of the Hispanic vote (a 28-point improvement over 2020). Bienvenido, an organization that promotes the Hispanic vote, detailed that these figures turned around traditionally Democratic strongholds in the Rio Grande Valley.

In addition, historically Democratic Texas counties such as Starr County (which has a 97% Hispanic population) drastically changed the direction of their vote, and Trump won by 16 points.

In Florida, Trump again made history by winning 58% of the state's Hispanic vote. The win in well-known Miami-Dade County marked the GOP's first presidential victory there since 1988.

"In Pennsylvania, Trump saw a 15-point increase in his Hispanic support, with notable gains in areas like Allentown and Hazleton, traditionally Democratic strongholds with significant Hispanic populations. This shift signals a key realignment in a critical swing state," Bienvenido noted.

In Arizona, Republicans continued to surge, and in Santa Cruz County, a predominantly Hispanic area that Biden won by 36 points in 2020, Trump cut that margin in half.

The results are an X-ray of the importance Hispanics place on issues such as the economy, security and family values. Hispanics have been shifting sides in defense of their priorities.

"As we celebrate this historic achievement, we recognize that this is only the beginning. Hispanic Americans across the country have delivered a powerful mandate, entrusting President Trump to fix a broken economy, secure our borders, and champion opportunity for all," Bienvenido said.